Padma awards: Out of 18k nominations, 4,200 back Dera chief alone

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) latest report, the nominations for Padma awards are on the rise as the ministry had received 18,768 nominations for Padma awards for the year 2017, with the most of the recommendations are in favour of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

According to the MHA report, the head of socio-spiritual organisation Dera Sacha Sauda got 4,203 nominations for the award, which is conferred upon outstanding personalities from different walks of life every year.

A total of 89 individuals were finally given the Padma awards for the year 2017. Even after having the most number of nominations in his favour, the Dera Sacha Sauda chief failed to get the coveted award.

The awards seek to recognise works of distinction and exceptional achievements in different fields and disciplines such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine, social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry.

Haryana stands at the top among the states getting nominations for the coveted award as the state, which is under BJP rule, had sent 4,438 nominations followed by Maharashtra with 3,200 nominations and Delhi with 1,191 nominations.

The least number of nominations was received from Meghalaya as the north-eastern state had sent only one nomination for the award.

According to the MHA report, more than 1,000 recommendations each were received from six states, which included Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, etc, while more than 500 recommendations were received from 10 different states, which include Madhya Pradesh with 502 nominations, Telangana (752), Karnataka (773) and Rajasthan (817).